HOW MONTICI MOSAICS WERE MADE

In this 5-minute, 2018 YouTube video, Bruno Lastrucci demonstrates how the Montici Workshop created its famous pietra dura mosaics. Bruno served as Richard’s mosaics maestro for many years. He was also a close, personal friend of Richard. For a full biography of Bruno, see the “Members Only” page on this website.

This slightly longer, 7-minute, 2020 YouTube video was produced by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones), an institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage. Based in Florence, the Opificio traces its history back to 1588, and its creation by Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici.  Richard Blow produced his 20th century Montici mosaics using the same 16th-century techniques developed by the Opificio.